Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship's Bible study in the Book of Revelation.  Tonight is study #9 of Revelation, chapter 7, and we are going to be reading Revelation 7:9-10:

After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.

We are continuing to look at this verse and this is one of those wonderful verses in the Bible in which God talks about saving a “great multitude.”  A little further on, He tells us that this great multitude came out of “great tribulation” and that distinguishes them from “firstfruits,” which identified with the church age.  So this lets us know that God had a two-part salvation program to bring in the fruit of His harvest, and that was exactly the case when we looked at Exodus 23:16 or Exodus 34:22.  There are the “firstfruits” and then the fruits that come in during the Feast of Ingathering at the “end of the year.”  Revelation 7 is laying out that two-part harvest of souls and, here, we see this “great multitude, which no man could number,” and later on in Revelation, chapter 9, we will read a number of “two hundred million,” and that is a possibility for the actual total number of God’s elect which He would save. 

All of the “two hundred million” would not have been saved during the Great Tribulation because some would have been saved during the Old Testament time and some would have been saved during the church age.  But we can know that a high percentage of God’s elect were reserved and kept for redemption until the “little season” of the Great Tribulation period.  It is true that we cannot “number” them.  We cannot tell exactly how many people God saved during the approximate 17-year period of the “latter rain” which fell during the Great Tribulation, but we do know that it was a tremendous number of people out of a world of about seven billion people – God saved scores of millions of people which came from “all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues;” the “four” groups are mentioned here to indicate it was “worldwide,” to the far reaches of the earth. 

Then it says that they “stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands.”  Now let us think about this word “stood,” because every word in the Bible has meaning.  What does it mean that this great multitude “stood” before the throne of God and before the Lamb (which is a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb which taketh away the sins of the world)?  Why does God tell us that they “stood” before Him?

Well, let us turn to Romans, chapter 5.  We are going to look at three different verses in the Book of Romans, beginning with Romans 5:2:

By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Now, here, God is indicating that we “stand” in grace.

It says in Romans 11:19:

Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in. Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:

Again, we (the saved Gentiles) “stand” by faith.  Now we have to turn elsewhere in the Bible to discover that it is the faith of Christ and not our own faith; we do not stand by our faith, but by the faith that saved us and that was Jesus’ faith.  Yet, we “stand” by faith, just as we “stand” by grace: “For by grace are ye saved, through faith,” Ephesians 2 tells us, “and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.”

And, also, it says in Romans 14:4:

Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.

Before God, we are either going to “stand” or we are going to “fall.”  If we fall, we will be destroyed and that will be a result of our sins.  But, if we stand, “God is able to make us stand,” by granting us grace – by granting us salvation through the faith of Christ.  Therefore, we “stand,” and that is exactly the picture that we find in our verse in Revelation 7:9: the great multitude “stood” before God and they are not standing before Him based on their own righteousness or their own goodness (or the keeping of the Law), but they are “standing” by the grace of God.  It was God’s mercy that He bestowed His grace upon them, allowing them to “stand” before Him.

Now contrast that with what we read in Revelation 6:17:

For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

And the answer is that none of the wicked shall stand – none that have no Saviour and none that have their sins remaining upon themselves.  They will not be able to “stand” or “withstand” and to endure the “day of his wrath,” that evil day that God referred to in Ephesians, when He spoke of putting on the armour of God, in Ephesians 6:10-13:

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

All the “spiritual armour” that permits us to “stand” comes as a result of salvation; it comes as a result of the grace of God and the faith of Christ; and that permits us to “withstand” these forces that are at work in the Day of Judgment.  We will not endure and we will not be able to withstand the spiritual fire that has been lit in this terrible day of the wrath of God, unless God keeps us and unless He holds us fast and causes us to endure to the end.  And He will do this for each one that is a true believer. 

I think we looked at some of these verses when we looked at Revelation 6:17, but it is always helpful for us to go over them again, especially when it is new information.  God says in Malachi 3:2:

But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth?

It is the same question that Revelation 6:17 asked.  The day of God’s wrath is here and who shall stand? 

…who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap: And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto JEHOVAH an offering in righteousness.

The gold and silver represent the elect of God and so do the “sons of Levi.”  Here, God is explaining that in the day of His wrath, He will purify His people.  The same fire that was kindled in His anger (to punish and, finally, to destroy the unsaved) is not going to have the same result in His people, but it will accomplish “good” in purifying them and in bringing them forth to glorify God. 

Let me just read one more verse in Luke, chapter 21, which is a chapter that relates to the Great Tribulation and the end of the world.  It says in Luke 21:34-36:

And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

God is using that figure for those that are caught in the “snare” of Judgment Day, as He brought Judgment Day as a “snare” upon the whole earth: “on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth,” upon both the believers and the unbelievers. 

We believers did not know – we had no idea of God’s plan for us; we thought we would have been raptured, so it was a surprise to us also, and that was part of the test that God had designed for His people “in those days after the tribulation.”  How are they going to react?  How are they going to respond to the idea that the Bible confirmation of May 21, 2011, did not happen as it was proclaimed to be: “Judgment Day – the Bible Guarantees It”?  

Believers had put much “one the line” in response to that message; they used their funds, their resources and their time; they could have put their reputation on the line with their family, friends, neighbors and co-workers.  And when it did not happen that they were raptured and taken out of the world, but they remained in this world on May 21, 2011 (and after), then how are they going to react?  Are they going to return to the Bible and continue to study?  Are they going to continue to check these things out, as they wonder what did happen?  Are they going to go back to the information they received and examine it again? 

And when they see that the Biblical calendar of history still insists that May 21 was the Day of Judgment; and when all the other information continues to point to that particular day; and when they realize that they believed it to the degree that they did because they heard the voice of God and because God confirmed it with infallible proofs; and, yet, it did not happen as they thought, will they then be open to continuing to study the Bible?  Will they recognize that the only solution that maintains the integrity of the previous studies (which have not been proven false), the integrity of the declaration of Judgment Day and the integrity of the calendar of history that came from the Bible, is a “spiritual judgment.”  And a “spiritual judgment” follows the pattern that God has performed in times past with the major judgments in the Bible – from the Garden of Eden, to the Garden of Gethsemane, to the judgment upon the churches and congregations; they were all spiritual in nature.  Will they be open to humbling themselves before the Word of God, once again, or are they going to have their pride get in the way? “That is it.  I have had enough.”  They had believed that May 21, 2011, would be Judgment Day, but had thought they would be taken out of the world, and now they are not going to believe anything further regarding the timeline.  They are going to join the churches and congregations and say, “Yes, they were right.  ‘No man knows the day or the hour.’  I do not want to hear anything further about Great Tribulation, about timelines, about the end of the church age, about the end of the world or the coming of Christ.  I am going to go back to basics – I am going to read my Bible and pray.  I am not going to listen to teachers any more.” 

That would be a complete failure of the test that God has been putting us through, because God has graciously opened up the Scriptures at the time of the end.  It was those in the churches and congregations that denied those truths and resisted those truths.  So, now, for individuals that had previously accepted these truths to turn back (to return to the position of the corporate church and the position held by traditional doctrines) is nothing but a failure of the test that God has put us through.  The true believer will not do this.  How can they deny truth?  How can they deny the confirmation of the Word of God concerning these doctrines?  So, they will be open to receiving these things from the Word of God.

Now it may be that their understanding of what God has done will take some time.  For some, they may immediately understand; some, after a little while, will begin to acknowledge and understand; and some may take a longer period of time to understand.  Just as it was at the end of the church age, God is in control of when they come to truth, but God’s people will understand these things.

Let us go back to Revelation 7:9:

…a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;

Let us look at this clothing that the great multitude is wearing, where it says they are “clothed with white robes.”  If we go back to Revelation 3 (and we went over this when we went through this chapter, verse by verse), and it says in Revelation 3:4-5:

Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy. He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

Here, the “white raiment” is clearly identified with salvation because their names will not be blotted “out of the book of life,” which means they will live, and that is salvation; that is eternal life.  The white garments typify and picture the fact that their sins are forgiven – their sins are washed away and they are made “pure” by the blood of Christ; there is no spot or blemish.

In Revelation 19, we also read of “white garments.”  It says in Revelation 19:7-8:

Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

This is describing the “bride of Christ,” which is made up of all the elect; all that God will save are the spiritual bride of the Lord Jesus Christ.   He is the bridegroom and we are the bride and the bride is “arrayed in fine linen, clean and white.”  It is that beautiful picture that our human institution of marriage emulates, as the bride, historically, would dress in “white” to demonstrate her purity and be joined with her husband.  This idea is taken right of the Bible, as God uses this picture of His elect that (previously in their lives) may have been some of the vilest, filthiest wretches you could ever think of, committing the most abominable sins (things we would not even want to think about); these are the “chief of sinners,” as God causes them to realize this after they are saved.  Previously, they may have thought they were “good people,” but after salvation, they see the multitude of sins the Lord took from them and washed them with the “baptism” He was baptized with when He went through the wrath of God from the foundation of the world; He died for their sins, purging away all iniquity, washing these filthy sinners from all of their sins, in the sight of God, and now they are “clean.”  Whether an individual is presently alive and born again, or whether they previously lived, all sin (past, present and future) was paid for and purified the sinner. 

Now they are “arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.”  What is the “righteousness of saints?”  The righteousness of a saint is the righteousness that is given to us “by the obedience of one,” by the Lord Jesus Christ as He was obedient to everything the Father would have Him do, in submitting Himself to the will of God in suffering and dying for our sins and, thereby, making us righteous through His righteous obedience.  This is the “white” clothing.  It says in Revelation 19:13-14:

And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.

That helps us identify the “armies in heaven.”  It is the bride of Christ; it is made up of all of God’s elect, as Jesus comes to judge the world “and all the saints with Him.”  And that is what God is doing now.  He is judging the world with all His saints, with the “great multitude” that was saved and came out of great tribulation.  They are the armies of heaven.  They are the bride of Christ.  They are God’s weapons – His battle ax – in the day of battle against the enemies of the Kingdom of Satan.  The primary means of God’s judgment upon the unsaved people of the earth is the fact that He has saved everyone that was to be saved, which permitted God to shut the door of Heaven and to put out the light of the Gospel – something He could not have done until “all the servants of our God are sealed in their foreheads,” or until the Holy Spirit had been received by everyone whose name was written in the Lamb’s Book of  Life (an earnest down payment of the coming redemption, that God will complete his salvation program and equip His saints with new resurrected bodies and place them in the new heaven and new earth). 

So, these are those that are standing before the throne and before God and they had “palms in their hands.”  And that is interesting that they had “palms in their hands,” as we find another time in the Bible when “Jews” were before the Lamb (the Lord Jesus Christ) with “palms in their hands.”  Of course, in Revelation 7, because the “great multitude” comes from every tribe and nation, they are “spiritual Jews,” but it is the same idea that we read of in John 12:12-13:

On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.

“Hosanna,” they were crying to the Lord Jesus Christ and then they laid down their “palm branches” to prepare the way before Him.  And what does “Hosanna” mean?  It means, “Oh, save,” or “Oh, Saviour,” the One who saves His people from their sins.  Notice that the great multitude that was standing before the throne and before the Lamb, and with palms in their hands, was crying, in Revelation 7:10:

…Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.

It is very similar to crying, “Hosanna, Oh, Saviour.”  What a great Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ is, to have redeemed us from our sins and from this world; and to have spared us and delivered us and brought us this glorious salvation.